As the world prepares to discuss climate change in South Africa next week, activists and researchers are pointing to a region that has been among the most affected in recent years - the Niger River basin in West Africa. In addition to identifying the region's problems, there has been an effort to find solutions to help vulnerable populations there.

A video on the website of the Netherlands-based group Wetlands International shows scenes of parched land, dried up river beds and deforestation in the Niger River basin.

International aid workers say West and Central Africa are in the grips of a regional cholera epidemic that has been aggravated by heavy rains and flooding.

According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, nearly 40,000 cases of cholera have been reported in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria this year. The U.N. says the disease has killed nearly 1,200 people in those countries surrounding the Lake Chad Basin.